Unequal Communities: The Waywayseecappo Indian Reserve and the Town of Rossburn

In this podcast episode, Nicole O’Byrne speaks with Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson about their book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation published by HarperCollins Canada in 2022. Valley of the Birdtail was awarded the OLA Evergreen award in 2023. The book weaves together the multi-generational stories of Indigenous and non-Indigenous families to depict a larger picture of Canada’s history. Looking to the town of Rossburn and the Waywayseecappo Indian reserve, the authors showcase the different realities of the people living in these communities, particularly the inequality of education and the long-lasting effects of residential schools. Intricately researched, Valley of the Birdtail incorporates legal histories, political analyses, and the personal histories to reflect on the relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians and ends with a hopeful look to the future. Andrew Adobo Sniderman is a writer, lawyer, and Rhodes Scholar from Montreal. He has written for the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, and Maclean’s. His profile of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools won the award for best print feature of 2011 from the Canadian Association of Journalists. He has also argued before the Supreme Court of Canada, served as the human rights policy advisor to the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, and worked for a judge of South Africa’s Constitutional Court. Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) is the Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. He has served as a senior policy advisor to Ontario’s attorney general and minister of Indigenous affairs. Sanderson's research areas include Aboriginal and indigenous legal theory, as well as private legal theory. His work uses the lens of material culture and property theory to examine the nature of historic injustice to indigenous peoples and possible avenues for redress. He is Swampy Cree, Beaver clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. This podcast was produced by Jessica Schmidt. If you like our work, please consider supporting it: bit.ly/support_WTY. Your support contributes to the Champlain Society’s mission of opening new windows to directly explore and experience Canada’s past.